Fox Business host duped by animal rights activist masquerading as CEO of food giant Smithfield
An animal rights activist passed himself off as meat giant Smithfield Foods' CEO in a Fox Business interview warning that meat plants like his (supposed) own are "petri dishes" for pandemics like the novel coronavirus.
Fox's Maria Bartiromo spent six minutes interviewing a prankster posing as recently-promoted Smithfield Foods CEO Dennis Organ, never once suspecting the animal rights activist was someone other than the former COO - who, it must be said, he didn't resemble in the slightest.
'Organ' made a point of discussing how "we might bear some responsibility" for the current US Covid-19 misfortunes, vowing to address future challenges with "brutal honesty" and "transparency."
"The truth is, that our industry, in addition to the outbreaks that are happening at our plants, that our industry poses a serious threat in effectively bringing on the next pandemic with CDC data showing 3 of 4 infectious diseases come from animals and the conditions inside of our farms can sometimes be petri dishes for new diseases," he explained, in the guise of the meatpacking executive.
Amazing: Fox Business' @MariaBartiromo mistook an animal rights activist as the CEO of Smithfield -- one of the planet's most toxic corporations for public health, environment, labor abuses and treatment of animals -- and interviewed him about Smithfield, as CEO, for 6 minutes: pic.twitter.com/JKjU9OFURz
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 23, 2020
The prankster also expressed empathy for the factory workers tasked with packing meat in the heat of the epidemic, noting, "These folks have been through a lot, frankly we might bear some responsibility for that, but we know that our Smithfield family is dedicated and resilient and better times are ahead."
He also expressed gratitude to the Centers for Disease Control that food workers might get "30 million vaccine doses that are going to essential frontline employees out of the 87 million total."
I really do want to emphasize the heroic efforts of these folks.
Bartiromo ate up the faux-executive's penitence, inquiring about Smithfield's relationship with Chinese slaughterhouses and pitching American meat as superior to Chinese-slaughtered pigs.
Meatpacking plants have been highlighted as hotspots of Covid-19 transmission, with big brands like Tyson skewered for allegedly downplaying the risks of contracting the virus even as it was circulating through their facilities.
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